a conviction and not pursue it, but it sure seems the decision was made WAY too fast. Especially since the lead investigator -- who was AT the scene, wanted a warrent issued.

But with Sanford PD and the DA's history of reluctance to charge suspects when the victim is black, you have to wonder.

If nothing else, this should cause increased scrutiny on the State's Attorney's office.

NT

Material witness laws allow for them to detain people who are materially relevant to a felony investigation. Usually for anywhere from 24 to 48 hours. Technically this isn't supposed to be used on suspects, but it is anyway often to hold them prior to having the formal evidence for an arrest warrant.

But under Florida's Stand Your Ground law, the PD can be sued for making an arrest that turns out to be justifiable under their SYG law.

The Sanford PD went to the state attorney general's office for a warrant to prevent the possibility of such a lawsuit.

Technically, you're simply being detained to help in the investigation.

And the Florida law specifically says "criminal prosecution," not "arrest." Criminal prosecution is defined as charges being filed: in other words, if the police determine that you really did shoot someone to protect your life, you can't be officially charged. It doesn't say that you can't be arrested in the course of an investigation.

That sort of thing, that's what they were trying to avoid.

False arrest is arrest without probable cause, like a black guy driving a nice car gets arrested for car theft. False arrest does not mean being detained for questioning after shooting someone.